Noisy eating 3 year old

[BabCNesbitt]

DD was a surprisingly well-mannered eater until a couple of months ago, when she had a cold for ages and got into the habit of eating with her mouth open. Even after her nose unblocked, she still eats with her mouth open, smacking away. I have a genuine horror of noisy eating, though - I've tried being patient and gently reminding her to chew with her mouth closed, because, well, she's 3! But it's still just as bad, and I feel like I can't even be in the same room as her when she's eating, the sound upsets me so much.

I don't want to give her some kind of complex about eating, so does anyone have any good advice, beyond reminding her every 20 seconds at the dinner table?

You could try making a placemat about "things we do at the dinner table" like picture cues showing someone chewing with their mouth closed nicely -big green tick then contrast picture of someone obviously chewing with mouth open with big Red Cross through it. You could laminate or put some sticky back plastic over it to make it wipe clean.

I do like that idea, but I wonder if it might not have the same effect as verbally reminding her? (ie making her neurotic about eating.) Although seeing me cringe every time she eats can't be great, either!

Oh I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I have a real issue with noisy eaters, but hoped my own kids wouldn't bother me, but I've had to leave the room too.

Do you think she's doing it for effect now? If you ignored her would she stop? Be interesting to know if she does it when you leave the room.

My problem is I have real battle to get my ds to eat, so when he does I don't want to start moaning at him for noise! I normally just say, eat nicely, keep your mouth closed.

Is your DD taking very big bites? My DS starting eating with his mouth open and I found he was taking such big bites he couldn't possibly swallow everything before he needed to breathe again. I got him to practice taking small bites and small spoonfuls. It helped a lot.

And a bit of bribery never hurt either. I offered DS a little reward if he took five small bites at the start of the meal, then he could eat the rest of meal however he liked and I didn't comment or react. But somehow starting off properly meant he carried on eating properly for the rest of the meal! You might try getting your DD to "practice" finishing five mouthfuls with her mouth closed.

(PS but I think my DS was a bit older when we did this so we could count five bites. Your DD may be too young still, sorry!)

Kleinzeit, I really like that idea, of suggesting that she practise eating with her mouth closed. And it could well be that she's taking too large bites - she's kind of a fussy eater anyway, so we do try to encourage her to put a bit more on her spoon or fork, otherwise she just "dips" and barely eats anything! But that could be counterproductive - will need to see if smaller bites make a difference.

OP I can't help with the noisy eating but have you heard of misophonia? I have issues with certain noises and I found it helped to know that I wasn't the only one!

I've definitely heard of it, and suspect that must be what my problem is, but I've never had it formally diagnosed. Public transport with gum chewers was a major issue for me until I finally got an iPod - I was so tempted to start yelling like a mad woman on the top deck of the bus!